


Day Off

by NotWhoYouThink131



Series: Little Hamilton [3]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alex and Aaron have beef, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward trans questions, Daddy! Thomas, James almost shits himself if I have to tag that idk, James is a mess, Little! James, Lucy is Thomas' Little Sister in this AU not his Daughter, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pants wetting, Sickfic, Technically coming out?, Thomas is a Saint, Trans Aaron Burr, Vomiting, What else is new?, When is James Not Sick tbh, diaper wetting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotWhoYouThink131/pseuds/NotWhoYouThink131
Summary: James is too sick to be at work, which probably means he's going to work and Thomas has to force him to leave by any means necessary.





	1. Chapter 1

“So John has new babysitters.” Alex says absently, tapping away at his computer. It had been a few days since Hercules and Lafayette found out about John being Little, and now he knows that- at 11:16 in the morning- John is in safe hands if he just happens to fall into Little Space before he left for his afternoon class. Alex’s mind is now at ease knowing John is safe no matter what state of mind he’s in. “Lafayette and Hercules.”  
“Good for him,” Thomas says. “Bet they freaked out.”  
“They were more worried,” Alex says. “John had a meltdown and they didn’t know how to handle it.”  
“John’s just going with it?” Thomas says.  
“Yep,” Alex grins. “He loves them.”  
“Are you two even working?” Burr’s voice passes by before either of them actually look up and catch him. "All I hear is talking."  
“Yes!” Alex glares at the empty doorway. “Stay out of our business!”  
“I'm not in your business," Aaron's voice starts getting louder again; he's heading back their way. "I just know Jefferson’s behind on his work.” Burr suddenly appears in the doorway with a small stack of paper. “Even more so since he’s covering Madison’s work today. You two don't have time to be talking to one another.”  
“It’ll get done,” Thomas grumbles, not looking up from his computer. Aaron leaves the duo to work, and Thomas sighs.  
“Where is James, anyways?” Alex asks.  
“He’s sick.” Thomas says.  
“What else is new?” Alex snorts. “He’s had a cold for how long? Like, Four months?”  
“Yeah, but this is more serious than the cold.” Thomas says. “I think he has the flu or something.”  
“Aw, shit.” Alex winces. “Think he’ll be okay?”  
“Hopefully he just sleeps it off.” Thomas says. “The longer he’s awake, the more miserable he’s going to be.” He looks at the papers all over his desk, groaning softly. “Hopefully he gets better soon”  
“Hopefully,” Alex agrees quietly, going back to typing.  
The two stay quiet for a few hours, getting a large amount of work done between the two. Thomas is normally slower with his work, easily distracted by the littlest things, but considering he is doing twice the work, his morning is spent very productively. Alex finishes his morning work without any problems, completing a good portion of the work and dropping it off at Washington’s office before taking a small break to massage his aching wrists. A little bit after lunch time, Thomas keeps glancing at his phone while he works.  
“You okay?” Alex asks.  
“James hasn’t texted me yet today.” Thomas says.  
“Well, you said you wanted him to sleep it off,” Alex shrugs. “He’s probably fine.”  
“Probably…” Thomas mutters. His productivity is plummeting, though, with every passing moment. Thomas can’t help but worry about his partner, and he quickly shoots him a text when he can’t take waiting anymore.  
T.Jeff: Hey hon. How are you feeling?  
For a few minutes, there is no response, causing Thomas’ skin to run cold. James knows Thomas’ anxiety acts up in the weirdest places, and if he’s texting anyone, he is expecting a quick response to calm himself. The fact that no response comes makes Thomas even more worried and he even considers calling James when he hears Washington come out of his office.  
“Oh, no!” Washington barks. “You cannot be here!”  
“Sir, I’m fine.” The voice is so quiet Thomas almost doesn’t hear it, but when he does him and Alex race to their feet.  
“Go home, Madison!” Burr calls from his office.  
“I’m fine,” James mumbles. Thomas leans out his doorway, Alex leaning out a little farther so he can see over the man's broad shoulders. God, you can tell James has the flu; his skin is much paler than usual, his eyes bloodshot and shineless. Thomas winces when he sees him; he’s obviously struggling to stay on his feet, putting himself at even bigger risk.  
“Madison, go home.” Washington is glaring down at James, arms crossed across his chest. Though his hard demeanor is dark, his eyes give away his concern. He has a father-like care for each of his employees, and James is no different, despite constantly needing someone's attention. “You are far too sick to be here, and you’re going to make the rest of us sick the longer you’re here.”  
“James,” Thomas frowns. “I texted you-”  
“I was driving,” James says, finally looking at Thomas with a pitiful stare. “I got it, though.To answer your question, I feel okay.”  
“You look horrible.” Alex says honestly. James scowls. “Seriously.”  
“You smell like vomit,” Burr calls from his office. Thomas can see, through the open doorway of Aaron's office, that he hasn't even bothered looking up from his computer to check on James.  
“It’s not that bad,” James huffs.  
“I actually agree with Burr,” Washington says.  
“I’m fine, you guys.” James groans softly.  
“You shouldn’t be here,” Thomas says. “James, you need rest-”  
“I’m fine.” James says, waving his hand. “I have work to do.” He pushes past Washington and starts walking to his office.  
“I swear,” Thomas groans. “I’m gonna beat your ass.” He grabs James’ arm and spins him around, catching his partner off balance. James’ unsteady legs finally decide to give out and Thomas has to catch him before he hits the floor “Ugh, James!” He groans again.  
“I’m okay,” James tries to insist, struggling back to his feet. He smooths out his jacket and huffs under his breath.  
 _You’re really gonna make me do this the hard way, aren’t you?_ Thomas sighs to himself. He watches James for a moment. “Alright fine, let’s go to your office. I’ll grab your work.”  
“Thomas, you can't-”  
“Give him a second, George,” Alex whispers, holding his hand up. Thomas grabs a stack of papers from his desk and walks with James to his office. “He knows what he’s doing.”  
“Why do they do this?” Aaron comes to the doorway of his office. “James is too sick to be here, Just like Washington said, we’re all going to get sick if he stays here contaminating everything.”  
“If you’re that worried about getting sick,” Alex glares. “How about you just go home-”  
“Alex, don’t.” Washington interjects with a stern voice. “Just try to focus on your work, both of you.”  
“Sir,” Alex nods, reluctantly going back to his office. Burr huffs and Alex hears his door shut.  
Down the hall, Thomas is sitting on James’ desk, watching his partner struggle to type up his papers. His eyes are glassy and blank, his hands shaking slightly. He has a thin veil of sweat over his face and his breathing is slightly labored. Thomas feels a sour pain in his stomach just watching James suffer, but this is the only thing that’ll work. If James won't listen to reason, maybe he'll listen to himself.  
“James?” Thomas says. “Are you sure you can do this? We can go home-”  
“I’m okay,” James says quietly. He continues struggling to type for a moment, fumbling over letter and words and flat out leaving some of the mistakes, before he pauses, his breath catching. Thomas is all too familiar with that face, his blank glassy eyes suddenly filling with panicked realization. Thomas is instantly off the desk and crossing the room, taking the trash can next to the door and nearly launching it at James, keeping his distance.  
James catches the trash can and scoots away from his desk, giving room to set the can in his lap just in time for him to start vomiting. Thomas winces as he hears James empty his stomach, but he cannot help but feel glad that James is finally going to realize how sick he is. This incident was not the first one the couple has had, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Thomas hated doing this to James, especially when he was so determined to work, but Thomas knew he needed to go home, and there was only one way he would go home.  
James retches again, finally emptying himself, and sets the trash can down, gasping for air. Hot tears grasp at the corners of his eyes and his face is so hot he’s surprised his skin isn’t boiling. But, he will admit, his stomach feels much better. The only problem now is Thomas, staring at him with a smug expression, and the fuzzy haze in his head, making everything slower.  
Slower…  
Slow...er…  
“Madi?” Thomas says softly, careful to not disturb James out of his fragile state. One wrong move would cost him this mission, and that wasn’t something he could afford.  
“Y-Yeah?” James pants softly. He wipes his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, not minding the stain it causes.  
“Madi, come to Daddy,” Thomas holds an arm out in James’ direction.  
“I’m okay,” James shakes his head. “Not Little.” He even starts to turn back to his computer, not letting Thomas take his victory lap easily.  
“You’re lying,” Thomas says. “Madi, I see it in your eyes.” He steps closer to James, holding his other arm out. “You can come here, Madi, really. Daddy’s here.”  
James winces. Thomas’ voice is so sweet, soothing to his ear, and he finds himself reaching for Thomas’ hand. Part of him is still clinging to his common sense, Thomas is not what he needs right now, work is what he needs right now, but he cannot help himself. By the time he processes how Little he’s acting, he’s already in Thomas’ arms, gasping for air and trying to hold back another wave of nausea.  
“That’s it, Madi,” Thomas says. “You’re okay, Daddy’s got you.”  
“Daddy,” James whimpers, his face flushing again. “Daddy, hurts."  
“Oh, I know baby boy.” Thomas coos. “I know, you’re so sick, it hurts.” He looks down at James with a stern expression. “You should be in bed resting. This is no place for a baby.”  
“I-I needed you!” James pleads. “Didn’t want to be alone, couldn’t be alone.” He feels his stomach start to churn again, and he lets out the most pitiful whimper to signal his distress.  
“I know, Madi, I know.” Thomas coos. He takes James back to his seat and sets him down, nudging the foul smelling trash can closer to him. “Here you go. One more, then we’ll go.”  
James fights it at first, trying to swallow down whatever threatens to come up, but it quickly proves to much for him and soon he is head down in the trash can again. Thomas rubs his back, turning his head away as if that would help him avoid the smell, but soon James seems to be finished and panting again, and Thomas wastes no time. He helps James wipe his mouth and straighten his tie and says quietly, “I need you to look big for a second, can you do that? Just until we get in the elevator.”  
James nods and Thomas takes his hand, leading him to the door. When he lets go, James takes a deep breath and nearly bolts to the elevator, Thomas right behind him.  
When Thomas passes Alex’s office, he sets a stack of papers on the desk. “Take care of those,” He says quietly.  
“He’s going home?” Alex doesn’t believe it at first. It’s been a while since Thomas actually convinced James to go home, and he isn’t sure how to react at first other than a nod. “Alright.”  
“Thank God,” Burr calls from his office as Thomas passes. Thomas scowls as he peeks in, Burr not even noticing. Thomas waves at Washington as he goes, and George just sighs.  
“When he’s feeling better, I expect you both here.” He says.  
“Yes, sir.” Thomas gets in the elevator and waits for the doors to close. From there, the duo is home free. No one in the lobby is going to question the way Thomas holds James close to him, cooing softly into his ear, or the misty gaze James returns. The people working in the lobby have seen enough odd behavior between them to know odd is their normal, and they stopped talking about it long ago.  
Thomas is grateful no one will talk about it, or they’d probably talk about James whimpering, trying not to cry as the elevator lets them off on the ground floor.


	2. Chapter 2

The drive home wasn’t anything special aside from impossible New York traffic and other than Thomas stopping once for James to throw up on the side of the road, whimpering when he got back in the car, the drive went as smooth as a half hour trip turned hour and a half could go. Once they were a little less than 5 minutes from the house, James started complaining about more stomach pains, but when Thomas asked him if he was going to throw up again, James whimpered and shook his head, mumbling it would probably come out the other end. Thomas begged God he could get James home before he’d have to witness such a mess.  
Luckily, he did, James nearly tripping out of the car as Thomas went to go unlock the door.  
“Careful, Madi.” Thomas says, opening the door. James quickly made his way to the bathroom, Thomas sighing softly as he sat in the living room, waiting to hear if James needed help cleaning up or not.  
“You’re home early.” Came a voice from the staircase.  
“Lucy, not now.” Thomas sighs. He turns and look over the back of the couch, his baby sister standing on the steps. Baby sister was an exaggeration- The girl was well in her 30s now- but Thomas will always see her as the tiny brat who blew out the candles on his cake during his 8th birthday party, and therefore will always be a baby to him. “James is sick.”  
“I know.” Lucy nods.  
“Why didn’t you keep him in the house?” Thomas says. “He showed up at work and probably gave my whole building the flu.”  
“I went to the store,” Lucy shrugs her shoulders. “Looking for medicine to give him. He left while I was gone.”  
“He won’t take medicine.” Thomas sighs. “That’s why he keeps getting like this.” He hears the toilet flush, and silently thanks God James didn’t shit himself. That wasn’t something he wanted to clean up, especially in front of Lucy, who would do nothing but gripe about the smell and make James feel more horrible than he probably already would.  
“He needs to start,” Lucy says. “He’ll get the rest of us sick soon enough if he keep catching something every few days.”  
“It’ll be fine,” Thomas shrugs. “I doubt anyone will get too sick. And even if we do, we can take the medicine.”  
James comes out of the bathroom, smiling a little at Thomas, still weak and using the wall for support.  
“Feel better, Madi?” Thomas stands up. James nods. “Wonderful. Now, let’s get you to bed.” He holds his hand out and James gratefully takes it, lazily led upstairs. “Diaper or no?” Thomas asks.  
“Yeah,” James nods. He flops onto the bed and stares blankly at the ceiling as he hears Thomas get the stuff ready. When Thomas comes back into his line of sight, he pops a little blue binky into James’ mouth and begins undressing him.  
“How did that Hamilton guy take it?” Lucy says from the doorway. James doesn’t bother looking at her, he knows she’s turned away from them. "You skipping work on them?"  
“He just said alright,” Thomas shrugs. “Didn’t really seem to care.”  
“What about the bald guy?”  
“Washington?”  
“No, not your boss, the other one.” Lucy says. "The one you say hates Hamilton more than you do."  
“Oh, Burr,” Thomas shrugs. “Bitter, like always.”  
“Why doesn’t he like you guys?” Lucy asks. “You'd think with a common enemy like Hamilton, he'd band together with you guys.”  
“It’s not that he doesn’t like us.” Thomas says, putting a diaper on James. Once it’s fastened on his hips, he wiggles comfortably. “He just thinks we all talk too much. Express too much. Feel too much. I honestly don’t know which.” He pulls James up slowly by his arms and undoes the tie around his neck, pulling it off and making quick work of the buttons on James’ shirt. “Have a maid take care of this.” He tosses the clothes in Lucy’s direction, and she steps back once or twice until her foot can reach the pile and slide it into the hallway for her to pick up.  
While she is gone, Thomas puts James in his favorite pajamas, an adult sized footie onesie with a tail and a cute dog hood. It’s his favorite, and he always likes to wear it when he feels extra sick because it’s warm and soft.  
“I’m a doggo~” James giggles, kicking his little pawed feet.  
“Cute doggo,” Thomas pulls the hood over James’ head, staring at the large brown googly eyes and chuckling. How James got the audacity to buy this thing, he will never know. But hell, who was he to judge? Was he just supposed to pretend he didn’t have a purple plaid dragon onesie in the bottom of his closet? “I’m gonna make you some broth okay? See if that’ll soothe your tummy a little.”  
“Ba-ba.” James mumbles, playing with the tail of his pajamas.  
“Oh, Madi honey, I can’t do that. Milk will just make your tummy all icky again.” He pats James’ head. “Sorry sugar, maybe when you start feeling better.”  
James pouts. “But Daddy~”  
“I know, I know, but I can’t do it.” Thomas coos. “I can put your broth in a bottle for you, but Daddy can’t make you his special bottle until your tummy is better.”  
James pouts his lips out more and pauses for a few more seconds before sighing dramatically and saying, “Fine, I want a broth ba-ba.”  
“Good boy.” Thomas coos. He gets up and starts walking out of the room. “Lucy? Watch James for me while I make him a bottle.”  
“You’re lucky I love you.” She says, passing him in the hallway and ducking into Thomas’ room.  
“You’re lucky I let you live here.” Thomas says in the same mocking tone as he comes into the kitchen. He quickly makes work of his task, listening for any signs of distress from his bedroom down the hall. Sure, Lucy has taken care of his little Madi before, but that doesn’t mean she knows what she’s doing. Thomas never really explained age play to her, she just kind of faded into the picture and understood. When she first started living here, Thomas would keep James in the room while Lucy was in the house, but he knew he couldn't keep the toddler in his own room forever. It was his house, too, and he deserved to go anywhere he wanted. So he told Lucy not to ask too many questions, and in return she could stay in the house. Eventually, Lucy caught onto their little extra-curricular and decided to help Thomas with little things, like watching James for a short amount of time or making a bottle when Thomas' hands were full. James can be a handful from time to time, and Thomas appreciates the help.

Back in the office, Washington does another sweep around his floor, visiting Alex and Aaron two or three times- both working hard at their desks, giving him no more than a wave as he passes- before he hears it. The sound of retching coming from the office across the hall from his desk. It was quiet at first, and George thought he was having war flashbacks of James just hours ago throwing up. You’d be surprised how much the whole office gets those flashbacks. Then the noise got louder and more pronounced, followed by a shuddering groan and a soft thud, which is when George finally decides to investigate.  
George leans into the room and is surprised to find it empty. “Aaron?” He frowns. He carefully approaches the desk and finds Aaron crouched under it with the trash can between his legs, panting heavily. “Oh, Aaron.” George blinks.  
Aaron look up and George is taken back by how miserable he looks, the human form of a kicked puppy. “Hey,” He croaks.  
“My God, you’re already sick?” George frowns. Normally it takes a day or two to catch the flu, how had Aaron caught it in just a couple hours?  
“So I did hear him throwing up,” Alex’s voice comes from the doorway. “I thought I was imagining it.”  
“So did I.” George says. Aaron groans softly and buries his face into the trash can, throwing up again. “You should go home, Burr.”  
“Christ, can he even drive right now?” Alex says. “Look at him.”  
Aaron shudders at a sudden urge and cannot stop himself from releasing his bladder when it begs. Liquid pools beneath him at an alarming rate and the stream just gets faster when Aaron throws up again. George gasps when he sees the puddle growing under Burr’s seat, and he looks back at Alex. “Can you take him home?”  
“Absolutely not.” Alex huffs.  
“You can’t get over your feuding for one hour to take him home, Hamilton?” George asks incredulously. “Look at him! You just said it yourself! He’s a mess!”  
“I can’t take him back to his house, sir.” Alex says. “His daughter’s pregnant, you know that.”  
“I know.” George nods. He had honestly forgotten the risk of sending Aaron home with Theo present, but it still didn't change the fact...  
“So if I drive him home the only other place I can take him is my house.” Alex huffs. “And that’s not happening.”  
“Can’t Theo just stay at your house while Aaron recovers?” George asks.  
“No!” Alex huffs. “Her staying at my place is what got her into this mess.”  
“This ‘mess’,” Aaron growls- more like groans- as his voice echoes in the trash can. “Was your son’s stupidity.”  
“Watch your mouth when you’re talking about my son,” Alex growls.  
“Okay, okay, enough.” George sighs. He rubs his temples. “Okay, he can’t stay here, he can’t go home, Theo can’t go to your place. So what do we do?” He wants to ignore the smell of sick and piss, but it’s overwhelming the room too fast, much to Aaron’s humiliation. “Hallway.” George says quietly to Alex.  
Alex nods and takes two step into the hallway, closing the door behind them and leaving Aaron to his own devices. “I don’t know why I have to do anything.” Alex says. “If I take him home, I’ll probably get sick myself, and I can’t afford it.”  
“I understand that,” George says. “But he cannot stay here, or we’ll both get sick.” To accent his point, Aaron throws up again, much louder this time. He gestures to the door and gives Alex a look.  
“Then what do I do?”  
“Figure it out, Alexander,” George says sternly, walking back towards his office.


	3. Chapter 3

Thomas comes back with a bottle and is astounded to find James sitting up in bed playing with Lucy, a stuffed caterpillar held weakly in his hands. “Well, look at you two.” Thomas smiles. “How are you feeling, Madi?”  
“His fever's already gone down a little,” Lucy says. “But he said his stomach still hurts.”  
“Well, yeah,” Thomas says. “He’s gonna be sick probably ‘til tomorrow.” He sits next to James on the bed and holds out an arm. “Wanna lay down for your bottle, Madi?”  
James nods and nearly flings himself into Thomas’ arms, Lucy already forgotten. He opens his mouth and quickly latches onto the bottle, grabbing it in his chubby hands and grinning, drinking quickly. The liquid is almost scolding in his mouth, but it feels good the quicker he drinks.  
“Careful, Madi,” Thomas hums. “Slower, so your tummy doesn’t get sick.” He tips the bottle to prevent him from drinking too much, limiting his intake of the broth. James whines in protest, but he still gratefully accepts what he can, soothing his raw throat and his ailing stomach. Lucy gets up and leaves the room, probably leaving them with their privacy. “You’re doing good, Madi.” Thomas coos softly.  
James stares up at Thomas in adoration, smiling at him. His hands curl around the bottle tenderly, his eyes soft. Thomas cannot help but smile at James, basking in the infantile pride James has in him. He loves when James looks at him like that, his brown eyes glittering and the smile on his face mesmerizing. He holds Thomas to a standard of pride that he revels in, happy to serve his partner, his husband, his baby boy.  
James finishes his bottle and Thomas sits him up a little, patting his back gently. “Come on, baby.” He hums. James giggles and squirms uncomfortably for a moment before hiccuping, followed by a loud burp. James covers his mouth and giggles, Thomas chuckling with him. “Good one,” He smiles.  
“Thomas,” Lucy calls into his room. “There’s someone on the porch. Kinda dark skinned, bald.”  
“That’s probably Aaron.” Thomas says, still fidgeting with James. “What does he want?”  
“I dunno, he’s asleep.”  
“What?” Thomas gently pulls James off his lap. “He’s asleep?” He leans out the doorway and sees Lucy standing at the end of the hall.  
“Looked like it,” Lucy shrugs. “He didn’t say anything to me, at least. He’s all curled up.”  
“My God,” Thomas makes his way to the front door. “Why would he…?” When he opens the door, sure enough, he finds Aaron curled up on the porch, asleep and covered in sweat. Thomas winces at the ruined state of his pants and wonders how Aaron even got here. His car is not in the driveway, which makes Thomas even more suspicious. “Aaron? Hey,” He leans down and shakes Aaron gently. “Aaron?”  
Aaron’s breath catches and he sits up, nearly knocking over Thomas with his speed. “What? What? How?” He looks at Thomas and frowns. “What…?” He looks around.  
“Are you alright?” Thomas says, frowning. Aaron’s face is pale and his eyes are bloodshot, much like James looked a little bit after lunch. “You don’t look good, man.”  
Realization dawns on Aaron after he realizes where he is. “A-Alexander…” He wants to scream at Alex for just dumping him here, but even the thought of doing so is enough to drain all his energy. He weakly waves his hand dismissively. “He said you’d made me feel better.”  
“Well, for starters.” Thomas helps Aaron get to his feet. “Let's get your clothes in the washer. Jesus, when’d you do that?”  
“Before I left the office,” Aaron sighs. “I couldn’t hold it anymore, but I couldn’t move.” His cheeks flush in humiliation, but Thomas doesn't really seem phased.  
“Gotcha,” Thomas leads him inside. “Okay, so I guess my house is the new quarantine zone?” He says to Lucy as he helps Aaron sit on the couch. “Stay here for a minute.”  
“He’s not staying here.” Lucy scoffs when Thomas starts heading to the hall closet.  
“‘Til he can take himself home, yeah, he is.” Thomas says.  
“Why?” Lucy scoffs, speaking to him in a hushed voice. “He’s not like James, he’s a grown man, he can take care of himself.”  
“He can’t go home if he's sick.” Thomas says. “His daughter lives with him, she’s five or six months pregnant; he can’t get her sick.”  
“Since when do you care about other people’s well being?” Lucy huffs.  
“Daddy?”  
Thomas gasps and turns quickly, seeing James in the doorway, clutching his stuffed caterpillar to his chest. “M-Madi, go back upstairs.” He stammers.  
“You were taking too long,” James mumbles, watching Aaron curiously. “Is eve’ything okay?”  
“Madison?” Aaron raises an eyebrow weakly.  
“Shit.” Thomas hisses, tossing the box of freshly-bought medicine to Aaron. He grab James’ arm and gently leads him back to his room, pushing him gingerly towards the bed. “You can’t be up walking around, Madi, you gotta sleep.”  
“I need you, Daddy,” James mewls. “Need changed.”  
Thomas represses a groan. “Okay, I’ll change you really quick, then you gotta lay down and get some sleep."  
“Why is Mr. Burr here?” James hums, laying on the bed. Thomas undoes the buttons on his onesie and starts changing him.  
“He’s not feeling good either,” Thomas says. “So Daddy’s gonna help take care of him.” He starts changing James, humming softly.  
“He saw me.” James says quietly.  
“Well yeah, Madi,” Thomas says. “You were standing in the doorway where he could see you.”  
“What are you gonna tell him?” James says.  
“What do you want me to tell him?” Thomas counters, getting a fresh diaper on him and buttoning up his pajamas. “‘Cause I won’t tell him anything unless you want me to.”  
“You can tell him, if that’s easier.” James says, nuzzling his hand. “He won’t tell anyone.”  
“Yeah, Mr. Burr’s good at keeping secrets.” Thomas says. “Now you have to lay down and get some rest Madi, and when I’m done talking to Mr. Burr, I’ll come back and lay down with you. Deal?”  
“Deal,” James nods. He pulls the covers up and nuzzles into them, hiding his face. Thomas kisses his head and makes his way back to the living room.  
Aaron is laying on the couch, nothing more than a lump of blanket in the living room, and Thomas assumes he is either already asleep or does not want to be bothered. Honestly, he doesn’t blame him. Apparently Alex just dumped him on the doorstep without so much as a warning to anyone; Had it been Thomas, he wouldn’t want to talk to anyone either. He’s just happy he doesn’t have to explain James to Aaron just yet. Thomas quietly makes his way to the kitchen and starts looking around, trying to think of something he can make for Aaron. Maybe he'd like soup? Or maybe just broth. This shouldn't be this hard-  
“Thomas?” Lucy peeks her head in. “Quick question.”  
“What now?” Thomas says, opening cabinets and peeking into them.  
“I’m washing Burr’s clothes for him,” Lucy says. “And I’m not sure what to do with this.” She sets a black article of clothing on the counter. It looks like a sports bra of some sort and it’s made out of a material similar to spandex, making Thomas unsure of why Aaron was wearing it in the first place. It feels rough to his touch, and there is a small tear in the dip of the collar. “What’s this supposed to be?”  
“I’m not sure?” Thomas’ voice trails off as he keeps investigating the garment. It’s still warm from Aaron’s body heat and smells heavily of Aaron’s cologne, but other than that he has no proof it’s Aaron’s. Why would he wear something like this?  
“Well, go ask him.” Lucy says.  
“He’s probably asleep,” Thomas shrugs, handing it back to her. “Just set it off to the side. If it’s that important, you can ask him what to do with it later.”  
“I don’t want to be the one asking your co-worker why he’s wearing a bra,” Lucy snorts. “So you can do it, and you may as well get it over with now.”  
Thomas groans. “Why are you such a pain in my ass?” He snatches the garment off the counter and trudges into the living room, poking the lump on the couch. Aaron groans softly. “Hey, I gotta talk to you.”  
“If it’s about James, I don’t wanna know.” Aaron mumbles. “What you guys do is on you.”  
“It’s not about James.” Thomas says. “Not right now, anyways, I will talk to you about that later.” He ignores Aaron’s groan. “I need to talk to you about this.”  
Aaron barely pops his head out of the blanket and pries an eye open to look at Thomas, and when his eyes lock on the black object in his hands, he gasps out loud, his eyes becoming wild like a caged animal. “Why do you have that?!” He blurts.  
“It was in your laundry.” Thomas says. “My sister was trying to wash your clothes for you-”  
“I told her not to take my shirt!” Aaron hisses. Thomas is confused by his aggressive tone, Aaron’s never used that tone with him. That’s a tone of voice saved for screaming matches across the hall with Hamilton; he cannot help but wonder what has Aaron so alarmed. “Give me that!” He holds out his arm, maneuvering the blanket carefully to keep everything but that one arm and the top of his head covered.  
“What is it?” Thomas blinks, taking a step back out of reflex. He has no problem giving it back to Burr, but he can’t help himself now that a curiosity has been awakened in him. “Aaron?”  
“It’s not important!” Aaron growls. “Just give it to me!”  
“Not until you tell me what it is.” Thomas says. “It’s important if you’re this upset by it-”  
“Jefferson, now!” Aaron’s tone is becoming more alarming, making Thomas’ skin run cold. He drops the article into Aaron’s hand and he quickly recoils under the blanket. There is silence for a long time before Aaron barks, “Go away!” And Thomas quickly flees back to the kitchen.  
“Jesus,” Lucy huffs. “What crawled up his ass?”  
“I’m…. I’m not sure.”


	4. Chapter 4

Thomas just decides to make another bottle of broth for James and another batch in a standard coffee mug for Aaron, after airheadedly running around the kitchen trying to recover from Aaron’s rabid attitude. He’s never seen Aaron get that mad before, even when yelling at Hamilton, and it honestly caught him so off guard he feels like a deer in headlights. He had an animal-like glint in his eyes, but it wasn’t just the aggression that caught Thomas off guard.  
Aaron was frightened. He was scared of something. Thomas knows that look, much to his own shame, and it was a look that only meant Aaron saw him as a threat. A threat to what, he doesn’t want to ask. But he has to know.  
He goes to James first, shaking him gently and pulling him out of bed. Surprisingly enough, James doesn’t fight with him, and just comes to the living room with him where Lucy is attempting to wake Aaron to give him his broth. Thomas sits on the couch across from Aaron, letting James lay his head in his lap, and hesitantly holds the bottle up to James. James takes no shame in grabbing the bottle and bringing it to his mouth, drinking with the same vigor he had earlier. Thomas is actually surprised with how James isn’t being shy like normal. Usually around strangers James was very hesitant to act Little and will even force himself out of headspace, but now he is willingly showing himself off for Aaron to see the second he pokes his head out of his blanket to glare at Lucy. She scoffs at him and nods towards the cup of broth, strutting from the room with a gait that can only be described as the Jefferson™ walk. Once she’s out of the room, Aaron’s glare falls on Thomas.  
“Jefferson,” He says, his voice stale.  
“Burr,” Thomas says softly, keeping his gaze on James. He doesn’t want to see the cornered animal in Aaron’s eyes again; he’d much rather ignore it altogether. His Madi is all that matters to him right now, and is the only thing keeping him from flying into a panic attack. “Sorry to wake you up, but I assumed you were probably hungry.”  
Aaron stares at the cup of broth for a long time, and Thomas even considers offering to leave the room, when Aaron sighs loudly. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll drink the broth if you explain what this is.” He gestures to James, still suckling at his own broth.  
“Thought you didn’t want to know?” Thomas says.  
“Well, now I do.” Aaron snaps. “So start talking.”  
While Thomas explains James’ state of mind- and his own role as James’ caregiver- Aaron keeps his eyes on James, watching the boy with new understanding with each passing moment. His eyes seem to soften as Thomas explains, going on to say they’ve been doing this since they were sophomores in college, after a really bad term of illness nearly put James in the hospital. His eyes no longer look panicked, or frightened, or even angry, he’s just watching, back to the passive glow Thomas almost praises, but he never lets the blanket fall out of place even as he relaxes; it stays right under his chin the whole time. Thomas finishes his little rant by awkwardly saying, “So uh, yeah, he’s like, three…”  
Aaron is quiet for only a few seconds before nodding. “Okay,” Is all he says.  
“Okay?” Thomas says. “You don’t seem all too alarmed.”  
“Like I said before, it’s what you do.” Aaron says. “This is your home, and I have no place to judge you in your own home.”  
“Thank you,” James says quietly, sitting up once his bottle’s finished. “People normally aren’t nice to me when I tell them.”  
“Trust me, little one,” Aaron says. “I wouldn’t be mean to you just because you’re trying to be who you are. Especially in a situation you can’t help.” He reaches a hand out to touch James’ face, and Thomas notices he’s now wearing the sports bra, the black strap visible when Aaron moves his arm. Aaron boops James on the nose and the boy begins laughing, hiding his face in Thomas’ lap.  
“You wanna tell me what that is now?” Thomas gestures to the strap. Aaron glances at the strap and shrugs, almost seeming to shrink in on himself. “I won’t make you, I guess, but… You got pretty mad about it earlier; just wanna know what I did wrong.”  
“It’s not that you did something wrong, Thomas.” Aaron says. “I just… It just….” He huffs out a frustrated breath. “You’re going to be the only people alive other than Theo and Washington to know about this, and to be honest, I don’t know if I should trust you with this.”  
“I’ll keep my mouth shut if you do.” Thomas promises.  
“This is different,” Aaron shakes his head. “It’s not the same thing as James being a kid.”  
“It’s a lifestyle thing, I assume? It can’t be too far off.”  
“Yes and no.” Aaron says. “Not like you’re thinking it is.” He looks down at himself for a moment before sighing. “You can’t tell anyone.”  
“Not a soul.” Thomas nods.  
“Under any circumstances,” Aaron says. “You wanna ruin my career, you find another way to do it.”  
“Doubt I’ll want to ruin your career,” Thomas says. “That’s a promise Alex would have to make.”  
Aaron watches him for a second, waiting to see any sign of malice in his eyes, before sitting up and letting the blanket rest around his waist.  
Thomas isn’t exactly alarmed at first when he sees Aaron wearing the thing, he just feels like it’s an overreaction. So Aaron’s wearing a bra, so what? Lafayette wears bras all the time. Granted, Lafayette is an absolute mystery when it comes to gender, so they’re probably just experimenting to see if they could fit in some sort of binary-  
Then he sees it. A little lump of fat over the top of the material, and a second one next to it. They’re small enough that it wouldn’t be noticeable if Aaron was wearing a shirt, but Thomas knows exactly what they are as soon as he notices them.  
Oh.  
_Oh._  
 _OH!_  
Thomas realizes what he’s looking at with a sudden gasp, his jaw dropping before he can catch himself. “Oh!” He squeaks.  
“Aaron!” James blinks. “You have boobies-!”  
“James.” Thomas stops him, gently touching his shoulder.  
“No, it’s okay.” Aaron smiles a little scaredly. “He can say it.” His eyes are back to that prey look, like James and Thomas are threats to him.  
“Shit.” Thomas says. “So you… You’re…?” He hates himself, but he can’t help but peek towards Aaron’s waist.  
Aaron forces a chuckle. “Yeah.” He says. His stomach twists and he’s sure if he didn’t throw everything up back at the office, he’d be sick right now. He feels his heartbeat in his ears and his eyes burn as he tries not to start crying in his panic. Calm down, they haven’t said anything bad yet, they’re just taking time to process it. Just like Theodosia did, just like George did, it’s alright…  
“Wow,” Thomas says. “Fooled us.” He smiles at Aaron.  
Aaron smiles a little back, feeling his blood slow down within his own veins. That smile meant only one thing, and it’s that he was safe here. Thomas knew what this meant, and he accepted it, and Aaron was glad he didn’t react how he thought he would. James is probably still too child-minded to actually understand what’s happening, but he knows that if Thomas is okay with it, James will be okay too.  
“So what?” Thomas says. “You take shots or something?”  
“For a few years now, yeah.” Aaron nods. “That’s why I had to tell Washington- Insurance purposes and what not.”  
“Did she know?” Thomas asks. Aaron know who he means.  
“Yeah,” Aaron nods. “She knew before Theo was born.”  
“Has Theo always known?”  
“Kind of?” Aaron says, finally taking a minute to grab the broth from the table and drink some of it. It feels marvelous settling in his stomach, and he’s grateful for it. “When she was very young, she always asked why she called me Dad if I looked different than other dads, but as she got older she realized that’s just who I was. About 2 years after her mom died was when I started injections, and by then she accepted what I was.” He picks at the tear in his binder absently. “She actually got me this after I started injections. A Father’s Day present.”  
“It’s not a bra.” Thomas says; it doesn’t sound like a question, but it has the inflection of one.  
“No,” Aaron chuckles. “It’s a chest binder. It flattens what’s left of my breasts.”  
“What’s left?” Thomas raises an eyebrow.  
Aaron takes another drink of broth. “When I started taking shots, my fat distributed differently throughout my body, but my breasts didn’t completely flatten, just shrunk. So I still have to wear this to make my chest flat enough to pass.” He gestures to the tear. “Theo didn’t want to ask what size cause it would’ve given away the surprise, so it ended up being a little small.” He chuckles, remembering how flustered Theo was when she realized she got the wrong size, insisting of returning it for another one. Aaron said this size was fine, he was just glad she actually took the time to track one down online for him to wear, since his last one no longer fit and he had been using duct tape for a few months trying to find a new one.  
“Have you had the, uh…?” Thomas finds himself glancing towards Aaron’s waist again, his question trailing off.  
“No,” Aaron says. “I’m not going to have the surgery for that."  
“Wait,” James cocks his head. “If you don’t have boy parts, then how did you have Theo?” He is twisting the tail part of his dog onesie, signalling to Aaron that he is still very young.  
“We used a sperm donor.” Aaron says, hoping James can understand that somewhere in his head without too much explanation. When James smiles a little and nods, he assumes he does. “Theodosia really wanted kids, and my lack of ability wasn’t going to be what stopped her.” He grins. “Any more questions?”  
“I think we’re good.” Thomas says. “Thanks for telling us about this, Aaron. Hope we didn’t uh, press you too hard for information.”  
“Not at all.” Aaron says. “It’s actually nice to have people who know that you can trust.” He grins at them, and Thomas can almost see the tension drain from Aaron’s body as he comes to the realization that nobody needs to know about this unless Aaron says they can. Thomas and James will keep their mouths quiet about this. And in return, no one needs to know about James.

 

Aaron doesn’t leave Thomas’ house for a day or two, making sure he has absolutely no symptoms of the flu before he goes home to Theo and the baby. Over that time, Aaron gets to know Thomas a little better and, watching him run around trying to make James feel better as he wobbles between headspace and regular-James-Madison space as he himself was starting to come down with the flu, he realizes Thomas isn’t such a bag of dicks after all. He’s still snobby and pretentious, don’t get him wrong, but Aaron realizes that Thomas isn’t all bad. He’s just like that when Hamilton’s around, which- up until this point- was every time he saw Thomas. When Thomas finally had to be forced to lay down and rest in order to get better, Aaron didn’t have a single problem helping Thomas by taking care of James and keeping Lucy as far away as he could.  
Thomas drives Aaron home on Saturday, despite still rotting with the flu, and he can’t help but feel a small twinge of sadness as Aaron gets out of the car. Thomas spent these few days getting to know Aaron too, and he isn’t a bad guy, either. He realizes Aaron was scared to get close to people or express things to people because he was literally hiding a big part of his identity from them, and therefore felt like he had to hide everything from them. But Thomas realized that Aaron was a pretty cool guy. He loved to play games with little Madi and keep him distracted- Aaron is surprisingly really good at Candyland- and when he was feeling up to it, he helped make soup for Thomas and made dinner for Lucy, who was still blissfully unaware of Aaron’s business. Now that Aaron was leaving, he knew it was going to go back to the same old thing, Aaron being bitter as always every time he saw Thomas, and Thomas being snobby right back.

 

Monday was different, though. Thomas and James showed up together like they always did, Washington was in Alex’s office trying to force him to go home- he’s probably been there since Thursday when everyone left, reveling in the silence- Alex loudly protesting, and there was a voice from the office across the hall which made Thomas stop in his tracks as James kept walking to his office.  
Thomas leaned on the doorway. “Did you say something?”  
“Yes,” Aaron peeks over the edge of his computer. “I said good morning, Thomas.”

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, here we go. Part two of my ramblings about age play. Thank you guys for showing me some love and giving kudos to my last story.


End file.
